It’s sometimes interesting to get a different perspective on the world. Here are some books set in some far-flung places - and some places close to home - grouped by continent/large body of water with islands in it.

Africa

Burn My Heart, Beverley Naidoo, YA Fiction, Kenya
Cry, the Beloved Country, Alan Paton, YA Fiction, South Africa
The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm: a novel, Nancy Farmer, YA Fiction, Zimbabwe
Over a Thousand Hills I Walk With You, Hanna Jansen, YA Fiction, Rwanda/Germany
Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Adichie, Fiction, Nigeria
Spud, John van de Ruit, YA Fiction, South Africa

Asia

Anita and Me, Meera Syal, Fiction, India
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Dai Siji, Fiction, China
Chandra, Frances Mary Hendry, YA Fiction, India
Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society, Adeline Yen Mah, YA Fiction, China
Coming Home, Gaye Hicyilmaz, YA Fiction, Turkey
In the Sea There Are Crocodiles, Fabio Geda, YA Fiction, Afghanistan
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Nagaru Tanigawa, YA Fiction, Japan
Message in a Bottle, Valerie Zenatti, YA Fiction, Israel/Palestine
Parvana, Deborah Ellis, YA Fiction, Afghanistan
Preliminaries, S Yizhar, YA Fiction, Israel
Rani and Sukh, Bali Rai, YA Fiction, India
Swimming in the Monsoon Sea, Shyam Selvadurai, YA Fiction, Sri Lanka
The Wild, Matt Whyman, YA Fiction, Kazahkstan
The Year of the Shanghai Shark, Mo Zhi Hong, YA Fiction, China

Europe

Blood Red, Snow White, Marcus Sedgwick, YA Fiction, Russia
Bog Child, Siobhan Dowd, YA Fiction, Ireland
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak, YA Fiction, Germany (World War II)
The Dark Room, Rachel Seiffert, Fiction, Germany
The Game, Diana Wynne Jones, YA Fiction, Ireland
Journey to the End of the World, Henning Mankel, YA Fiction, Sweden
No and Me, Delphine de Vignan, YA Fiction, France
A Princess of Roumania, Paul Park, YA Fiction, Romania/America
Red Fox Running, Robin Lloyd-Jones, YA Fiction, Greenland
The Turning, Gloria Whelan, YA Fiction, Russia

North & South America

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie, YA Fiction, Native American
The Chosen, Chaim Potok, Fiction, Jewish/America
City of the Beasts, Isabel Allende, Fiction, Chile
The Color Purple, Alice Walker, YA Fiction, African/American
The Disappeared, Gloria Whelan, YA Fiction, Argentina
The Goldsmith’s Daughter, Tanya Landman, YA Fiction, Mexico
The Killer’s Tears, Anne-Laure Bondoux, YA Fiction, Chile
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, Mildred D Taylor, Children’s Fiction, African/America
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, YA Fiction, America
Unseen Companion, Denise Gosliner Orenstein, YA Fiction, Alaska/America

Pacific

Does My Head Look Big In This?, Randa Abdel-Fattah, YA Fiction, Muslim/Australian
The Dons, Archimede Fusillo, YA Fiction, Italian/Australian
Leaving One Foot Island, Graeme Lay, YA Fiction, Cook Islands
My Girragundji, Meme McDonald, YA Fiction, Aboriginal/Australian
Once Were Warriors, Alan Duff, Fiction, Maori/New Zealand
Where We Once Belonged, Sia Figiel, Fiction, Samoa
The Whale Rider, Witi Ihimaera , YA Fiction, Maori/New Zealand
No-Name Bird, Josef Vondra, YA Fiction, East Timor

If you’ve read a good book with an interesting cultural perspective then drop us a line; we’d love to hear from you.